Weekly Off-Topic Thread #271

Weekly Off-Topic Thread #271

Well. Things went a bit better with WOTT this past week so maybe it ain't completely dead after all.

WOW.....We had an overnight low of 6.9 degrees above zero. Absolutely clear skies. It was about 17 deg. when I took the Alf out for his morning walk....and he just loves it. Sun shining brightly....no wind....let's just say it was a brisk pace and my old ticker and half shot lungs were working overtime.

As I stated in my last post in the previous WOTT....I've been successful at getting my home net up and running the way I want it....but there is one hiccup. Both of my laptops can access the desktop in the other room....and retrieve or store files on its hard drive. But when I try to access either of the laptops FROM the desktop PC....on all the important folders where my photos, documents and such are stored, I get the doggone "You do not have permission" window. I can go one way but not the other. Man....I tell you...I've spent hours changing "sharing" settings and granting "permissions" to "everyone" but have had no luck. It's times like this that I get really out-of-patience with Microsoft. Just so darn many levels of security...that it's overwhelming. I can see the usefulness of this in the office and/or business but it's way over-kill in the home. I've got my home-network set up and that should take care of it but it doesn't. Oh....and here's another crazy thing. The blasted Toshiba laptop refuses to fully join the home-net because it says that ipv6 is required and must be turned on at the router. But U-verse doesn't use this setting...if I understand things correctly. So here we are...two people in a home with no need for all the blasted security measures. We've got our firewall in the router and our U-verse IPS is password protected so why do we need all this junk "inside" our home. Why can't we just have a single command that turns it off and lets our PC's communicate with each other within our own system. It's just STUPID. Our Toshiba laptop isn't all that important for this purpose because I keep the Wi-Fi turned off on it most of the time. It has our Quicken program for our accounting. So it's not accessible to anyone outside. I thought I had it all going good. Well....as long as the wife can access the Internet from her iPad without problems, at least my life is not in danger.

The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples' money........Margaret Thatcher

*The views and opinions expressed on this forum are purely my own. Any product claim, statistic, quote, or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider, or party.

Re: Weekly Off-Topic Thread #271

oz_1 wrote:

On folders and things I need to sling back and forth I have found both Evernote and Dropbox to be wonderful apps that allow sharing of things across all the computers.pads and smartphones.

I've become fond of Skydrive (a Dropbox like service from Micrsoft) mainly due to the ability of editing Excel, and Word files directly in my browser. I know Google Drive has this ability too but it doesn't offer nearly as many functions that I use on a daily basis (=sumifs() I use constantly at work) Plus with a Windows phone and WIndows 8, I'm automaticially synced across all of my devices at once.

Its amazing how I can take a picture with my phone and a high res version will be online and on my computer once I'm within range of a known wifi hotspot.

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Resident Xbox ACE. Ask me almost anything about Xbox on U-Verse.

Xbox Gamertag: americangamePSN: americangameSteam:americangameWhen friending me mention that you found me on the AT&T forums.

Re: Weekly Off-Topic Thread #271

americangame wrote:

Its amazing how I can take a picture with my phone and a high res version will be online and on my computer once I'm within range of a known wifi hotspot.

A long time ago I found a device called an Eye Fi on clearance sale for like $20. It's a 2GB SD card, and at the time, $20 was not far off the going price for a 2 GB SD card. However, this one was is special. It's designed to be put in a camera and when within range of a configured WiFi hotspot, it uploads your pictures to your PC or your favorite (within a list of) Photo Sharing site.

Unfortunately, my wife's camera wasn't compatible. :-(. Then we bought her a new camera. That one wasn't compatible either. She's got a camera that's probably compatible, but now 2 GB is a little small and I'm not sure I can still get it set up. One of these days I've got to dig it out and try, I suppose.

*The views and opinions expressed on this forum are purely my own. Any product claim, statistic, quote, or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider, or party.

Re: Weekly Off-Topic Thread #271

JefferMC wrote:

A long time ago I found a device called an Eye Fi on clearance sale for like $20. It's a 2GB SD card, and at the time, $20 was not far off the going price for a 2 GB SD card. However, this one was is special. It's designed to be put in a camera and when within range of a configured WiFi hotspot, it uploads your pictures to your PC or your favorite (within a list of) Photo Sharing site.

Unfortunately, my wife's camera wasn't compatible. :-(. Then we bought her a new camera. That one wasn't compatible either. She's got a camera that's probably compatible, but now 2 GB is a little small and I'm not sure I can still get it set up. One of these days I've got to dig it out and try, I suppose.

I have a more recent model of that card. But the truth is I don't carry around a camera with me everywhere so its usefulness is only good for when I'm traveling. But if I'm traveling odds are good I'm not within range of a known wifi hotspot.

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Resident Xbox ACE. Ask me almost anything about Xbox on U-Verse.

Xbox Gamertag: americangamePSN: americangameSteam:americangameWhen friending me mention that you found me on the AT&T forums.

Re: Weekly Off-Topic Thread #271

Interesting services. Wonder what file formats they will handle. With my Canon DSLR I shoot exclusively RAW format and a lot of apps & programs won't handle those image files. In the case of the Canon the extension is .CR2. After editing I resave them in .tif format. I avoid JPEG like the plague because the compression reduces image quality. A .tif file can be saved over and over with no loss of quality because it is compressionless. My newer, little Panasonc compact, pocket camera does not have RAW capability....just JPEG. So I set it on best quality image to conserve as much sharpness as I can and then, later if I work on it in my editing program, I resave it in .tif so no further degradation of the image will result. Everyone has their own priorities and techniques. That is my way.

But....really.....I want complete access between my three PC's on our home system. I've had it before. Then when I upgraded the desktop to Win 8 I lost part of the accesses. It isn't only photo files I want to be able to move around but also documents, PDF files, etc. etc.

My latest adjustment here in our home is to pull the range extender out of service. Now all three PC's are connecting wirelessly to the router. We pay for the 18 mbps down and 1.5 mbps up service.....and I'm getting 17 to 17.5 mbps down and 1.45 to 1.47 mbps up consistently on all of them. So I guess I should count my blessings. As I posted earlier...the router is now connected to the data port on the DVR. Not to the RG. Seems to work quite well.

The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples' money........Margaret Thatcher

*The views and opinions expressed on this forum are purely my own. Any product claim, statistic, quote, or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider, or party.

Re: Weekly Off-Topic Thread #271

Good morning all. Since I know we have some photographers in the group figured I'd share this with you. Not sure how good of editing software it is, but it retails for $149. It's called Cyberlink Photodirector 3. CNET is giving it away free thru midnight tonight or until supplies run out. To get it, follow this link here.

” Auto racing, bull fighting, and mountain climbing are the only real sports … all others are games.”- Ernest Hemingway

Re: Weekly Off-Topic Thread #271

hpmsrm wrote:

Interesting services. Wonder what file formats they will handle. With my Canon DSLR I shoot exclusively RAW format and a lot of apps & programs won't handle those image files. In the case of the Canon the extension is .CR2. After editing I resave them in .tif format. I avoid JPEG like the plague because the compression reduces image quality. A .tif file can be saved over and over with no loss of quality because it is compressionless. My newer, little Panasonc compact, pocket camera does not have RAW capability....just JPEG. So I set it on best quality image to conserve as much sharpness as I can and then, later if I work on it in my editing program, I resave it in .tif so no further degradation of the image will result. Everyone has their own priorities and techniques. That is my way.

But....really.....I want complete access between my three PC's on our home system. I've had it before. Then when I upgraded the desktop to Win 8 I lost part of the accesses. It isn't only photo files I want to be able to move around but also documents, PDF files, etc. etc.

My latest adjustment here in our home is to pull the range extender out of service. Now all three PC's are connecting wirelessly to the router. We pay for the 18 mbps down and 1.5 mbps up service.....and I'm getting 17 to 17.5 mbps down and 1.45 to 1.47 mbps up consistently on all of them. So I guess I should count my blessings. As I posted earlier...the router is now connected to the data port on the DVR. Not to the RG. Seems to work quite well.

There's a professional Eye Fi card that can handle RAW file formats. Here's the website http://www.eye.fi

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Resident Xbox ACE. Ask me almost anything about Xbox on U-Verse.

Xbox Gamertag: americangamePSN: americangameSteam:americangameWhen friending me mention that you found me on the AT&T forums.

Re: Weekly Off-Topic Thread #271

Yes, AG, I looked at that and it would be a very nice gadget to have. But what I want is complete freedom to move files (any kind) between my PC's. I had it working fine until I upgraded my desktop to Win 8. I'm sure I could set it up again if I just knew where the settings were to do so. I'm not talking just about photo files.....I mean all files. I want to be able to bring up Windows Explorer on my desktop PC and go to a folder.....find a file.....copy it.....and then go to a folder on my laptop and paste that file there.....all from my desktop. I can do this going the other way.....from either of our laptops to the desktop but not the other way around.....like I used to be able to do. I have decided that I need to go back to college and get a degree in this stuff to learn how to manage a simple home network. I've always said that Microsoft has made it a company goal to make things as difficult as possible for users of their operating systems......and about the time we start getting one figured out they come out with a new one....does basically the same thing....but they've hidden everything in new corners and under different rugs to make the stuff hard to find again.

Otherwise....I've got things working pretty much the way I want it. I've successfully worked around the iPad's inability to work with the 5 gHz signal from the range-extender by simply completely removing the range extender from the system. I have moved the wireless router from computer room at far end of the house to the living room and connected it to the net port on the back of the DVR. Wife's iPad works fine with 5 gHz signal from the router. We have the entire home net on 5 gHz wireless. My desktop is now using wireless connection to the router and I have adjusted the location of the Wi-Fi adapter so that the signal is strong. As I posted earlier our down & up load speeds test out at very close to what we subscribe to from U-verse. All is A-OK....except for that access issue for moving files around. Well...if I can't figure it out....I've got work-arounds I can use.

OFID: I downloaded that Cyberlink photo management and editing program and installed it. Played around with it for a little while. Very interesting and really quite complete. There are questions I'd like to ask them but all-in-all it really is quite powerful. It handles JPEG, TIFF and even RAW photo files. But....after making adjustments you cannot resave to the RAW format.....you have to go either to the JPEG or TIFF. That's OK.....the TIFF format does not use compression. Only objection I had initially was that it took the program about 15 to 20 seconds to save a file after I had made adjustments. My Adobe PhotoShop Elements 10 does it in 2 or 3 seconds. Also this program seems to really put a lot of demands on the dual core processor in my laptop because when I was using it the cooling blower ran on high speed almost constantly and the air coming from the rear vent was very warm....almost hot. That rarely happens with any other programs I use. Interesting eh?

But....how can ya beat free for such a feature full program? By the way.....wonder why it's free? There is a little pop-up ad that appears at various times while you are using it which informs you that the new version 4 is now available. Thanks for the tip. I think this would be great for anyone who wants a versatile program to manage their photos.

The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples' money........Margaret Thatcher

*The views and opinions expressed on this forum are purely my own. Any product claim, statistic, quote, or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider, or party.

Re: Weekly Off-Topic Thread #271

OK....I was going to add a new section to my post above...but the edit priviledge had already expired.

WARNING:There is something strange about the "free" Cyberlink Photo editing program posted about earlier. I installed it....started using it....was impressed with its capabilities. BUT, all of a sudden I became aware that my laptop's cooling fan had jumped to top speed and the air out of the rear vent was quite hot. I felt the bottom of the case and it also was very hot. I accessed the performance app in Windows and it displayed that both cores of my cpu were running at 95 to 100% of full capacity......constantly. Even when I exited the Cyberlink program the fan kept running on high and the cpu kept on running at 80 to 90% capacity. That just never happens...but rarely...with this Dell laptop. I restarted the computer and then things pretty much dropped back to normal. I used my RevoUninstall app to remove the Cyberlink program. I ran CCleaner and then ran my Registry Cleaner app. Then I ran Malwarebytes but it found nothing. Then I booted up my Adobe PhotoShop Elements and CPU usage ran about 10 to 15%...which is what I have experienced in the past. Now I'm writing this post and CPU usage has dropped to 1 to 10% and my cooling fan has dropped 3 steps in speed...back to almost idle. I can barely hear it. I can't prove it but methinks one may get more than one wants for free on his/her PC along with this "free" download of the Cyberlinks program.

Perhaps there is a logical reason for this....and those of you who are experts can explain it. I just know that I get nervous when my system starts running THAT hot and does it continuously. All thoughts on this are welcome.

Sorry OFID but, much as I felt positive about the program....I've got doubts now.

The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples' money........Margaret Thatcher

*The views and opinions expressed on this forum are purely my own. Any product claim, statistic, quote, or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider, or party.

Now a few of the news stories/links I was going to post read, "Monopoly fans vote to add cat, toss iron tokens". There's a good reason I didn't post this titled story, which includes "toss iron tokens, since it brings back some rather shady memories.

My 2 brothers and I would always play monopoly as kids but since my little brother was too young to know what he was doing most often it turned into a battle between my older brother and I. So for a change I was beating the heck out of him when he landed on "Boardwalk" I had a hotel on. He became super mad, started throwing all the game tokens, houses, hotels, at me, and of course I threw them right back. So afterwards we figured we best clean up all the pieces which where spread all over our large family room before mom got home.

As I was cleaning up pieces at the far end of the room I glanced over at our large round parakeet cage on a stand and our pet green parakeet was laying on his back in the bottom of the cage not moving. Right next to him was the metal iron token which had evidently gone between the cage bars and hit him in the head. What a fluke and mom never could figure out what lead to our parakeets demise while we sure never told her! Glad monopoly is getting rid of that cursed iron token.

Uniblurb3

If you get to thinking you're a person of influence, try ordering someone else's dog around.

*The views and opinions expressed on this forum are purely my own. Any product claim, statistic, quote, or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider, or party.